David J. Toscano - Fighting Political Gridlock: How States Shape Our Nation and Our Lives

David J. Toscano

Foreword by Senator Mark R. Warner

University of Virginia Press

Charlottesville and London

University of Virginia Press

2021 by the Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia

All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper

First published 2021

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Toscano, David J., author.

Title: Fighting political gridlock : how states shape our nation and our lives / David J. Toscano.

Description: Charlottesville : University of Virginia Press, 2021. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2020058636 (print) | LCCN 2020058637 (ebook) | ISBN 9780813946467 (hardcover) | ISBN 9780813946474 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: State governmentsUnited States. | State governmentsVirginia. | Policy sciencesUnited States. | Policy sciencesVirginia.

Classification: LCC JK2408 .T58 2021 (print) | LCC JK2408 (ebook) | DDC 320.60973dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020058636

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020058637

To state lawmakers throughout the land,

searching for solutions in the laboratories of democracy

Foreword by Senator Mark R. Warner

I first met David and his wife, Nancy, in the early nineties, when I was serving as chair of the Democratic Party in Virginia and David was a new member of the Charlottesville City Council. Weve been friends since then, close to thirty years, and Ive always known David to be both thoughtful and solutions oriented, so this book could not come at a more important time.

With the departure of President Donald Trump after a single term and the election of President Joe Biden on a bipartisan mandate, its clear that Americans long for an end to the gridlock and dysfunction that have characterized our national political institutions for too long. To that end, President Biden and the new Democratic Congress would be well served to look toward state capitals such as Richmond as a model for what is possible when elected officials and politicians are rewarded for solving problems, not merely for kicking the other side.

Im honored that Virginians have put their trust in me to represent them in the U.S. Senate, reelecting me in 2020 for a third termbut its no secret that serving as governor was, in many ways, the best job Ive ever had. As a Democratic governor from 2002 to 2006, I worked with a Republican-controlled state legislature to reform the tax code, get our budgetary house in order and save Virginias AAA bond rating, and make the single largest investment in K12 education in Virginia history. By the time I left office after four years, Virginia ranked nationally as the best-managed state, best state in which to do business, and the best state to get a public K12 education.

The fact that we were able to accomplish so much in just four years, despite having a legislature controlled by the other party, is a testament to the ways in which state governments differ from where I work in Washington, D.C. As COVID-19 has brought into stark relief, many of the decisions that most affect your everyday lifeyour childrens education, your healthare made not in our nations capital but in statehouses around the country.

While I didnt serve with him, I was a close observer as David was elected to the state legislature in 2005holding a seat once occupied by Thomas Jeffersonand quickly rose to be Democratic leader in 2011. Coming to Richmond from Charlottesville, David represented one of the most notoriously progressive parts of the Commonwealth in the state capital. As House minority leader, he often had to balance what his constituents demanded with the diverse needs of the entire Democratic caucus, who hailed from rural Virginia, Northern Virginia, and the urban cores of Richmond and Hampton Roadsand he never failed to do so with both grace and style.

As the publication of this book demonstrates, David still has much to contribute to the political and civic dialoguenot only in Virginia but across the country. In Fighting Political Gridlock: How States Shape Our Nation and Our Lives, David thoughtfully examines the ways in which our state governments still form the backbone of our civic and political governance. Though the workor lack thereofin Washington often hogs the proverbial spotlight, our political system is, at its heart, decentralized. The federalist system devised by our founders two and a half centuries ago ensures that core services of government, such as the administration of criminal justice, and even more existential questions of representationsuch as redistricting and how voters choose their representativesare decided primarily at the state and local level. This is what enables states to serve the needs of their citizens even as it often seems that national consensus and action appear increasingly out of reach.

With this book, David Toscano has thoughtfully highlighted the opportunities and challenges facing our state governments. I am confident that this work will soon be considered essential reading for students, policymakers, and public officials alike.

Mark R. Warner

U.S. Senator, 2009present

Governor of Virginia, 20022006

This book began as an effort to synthesize my fourteen-year experience as a state legislator with policy debates taking place in Virginia and nationally during the first decades of the twenty-first century. What emerged was a manuscript that was too long and overly complicated for what I was attempting to do, that is, to show why states matter in this great nation of ours. Fortunately, my editor at the University of Virginia Press, Nadine Zimmerli, suggested that I remove much of the Virginia-specific material for a future undertaking and concentrate on the national scene. It was a good move, and allowed me to focus on the unique character of various state policies and their impact, leaving much of the Virginia material for later. Her keen insight and editorial touch helped tremendously in generating this book.

This undertaking benefits greatly from many others as well. My former legislative aide, Erin Monaghan, spent countless hours reading and editing various iterations of this manuscript; being a lawyer, she was invaluable as I tried to make legal concepts more comprehensible. A number of exceptional Virginia historians, among them Brent Tarter, Ron Heinemann, Ed Ayers, George Gilliam, and Elizabeth Varon, helped me understand Virginias history and the state during Reconstruction in greater detail. Much of material on Virginias history is included in an upcoming volume, but the insights helped shape this narrative in several key places. Law professors Carl Tobias and Richard Schragger provided new insights into judicial selection processes and the interplay between state and local government. Jeremy Anderson, president of the Education Commission of the States, Peter Blake, director of Virginias State Council on Higher Education (SCHEV), and Robert E. Anderson, president of the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association (SHEEO), all reviewed the sections on higher education and provided useful insights. Chris Bast, Thomas Hadwin, Albert Pollard, and newly installed Virginia State Corporation commissioner Angela Navarro were kind enough to comment on the energy chapter and helped clarify some of the complex issues I had either neglected or inadequately explained. Constitutional scholar A. E. Dick Howard, a key drafter of Virginias 1972 Constitution, helped me think about state constitutions in new ways. Former US congressman L. F. Payne was an early and insightful reader of portions, as were Delegates Mark Sickles and Rip Sullivan. Friends Richard and Meg Zakin, Ned Martin, and David Gies provided feedback on the introduction.